White Chocolate With Strawberries
by Element's Sole Protector
Summary: Oh, Keiichiro. You really should keep a closer watch on Ryou. And you should never, EVER have left Ryou and Ichigo alone in your kitchen.
1. Cakes, Work, Jerks and Monsters

Wow. It's scary that I remember promising myself that _Tokyo Mew Mew_ would be the first fanfiction I posted, three years ago. ...Annnd that turned out to be a total unintentional lie. Sorry, TMM.

Speaking of... I don't own you. At all. If I did, _etc._ You've heard that spiel before.

I love this fic. So much so that it was planned as a one-shot and now looks to be three... _four_ chapters? Ai.

* * *

White Chocolate With Strawberries

* * *

"For disturbing the peace, we'll make you pay—nya!"

Kirema Anima typically didn't respond well to threats, even if they were little spirited threats from a pink catgirl. This one, a squirrel mutation (and what a big squirrel it was!), leapt for the girl in question—but to no avail.

Mew Ichigo was much faster than a squirrel, as were her four friends and fellow members of Tokyo Mew Mew. They were also much stronger than one.

"RIBBON!"

"Mint Echo!"

"Lettuce Rush!"

"Pudding Ring Inferno!"

"Zakuro Pure!"

"Strawberry Check!"

It was enough—the squirrel, ever innocent, was released from the Kirema Anima's hold—the latter tried to escape but was promptly caught and eaten by faithful Masha.

Zakuro gave one of her small smiles.

"Not too difficult."

"We did it, na no da!" Pudding leapt into Ichigo's arms—luckily, she was still a Mew, and so kept her balance.

Ichigo hardly noticed, anyway—her cat's tail was twitching, and she was perturbed. "I just don't understand where they keep _coming_ from—every time we think we've found them all…"

"I don't understand it either."

Ichigo jumped about four feet in the air—her black ears stood on end as she whirled around and yelled: "_Shirogane!_ Don't scare me like that!"

Indeed, Ryou Shirogane was right behind her, and he laughed as she took a swipe at him while dodging effortlessly. His blue eyes sparkled, as if she'd just made his day.

"You almost made me tra—!" Then she stopped—Mint, Lettuce, Pudding and Zakuro had no idea that she (_still!_) sometimes became a cat, even after the whole just-getting-her-powers-back transformation last fall. Only Ryou and Keiichiro-san knew, really.

Ryou seemed to know what she was about to say, and quickly (but smoothly) took the reins of the argument.

"I've been looking into it, but all we know about these new Kirema Anima is where they show up and when. To find out more, I'm afraid I'll have to keep cutting your weekends short and bring you back to the café now."

Ichigo practically howled like the feline she was. _More_ undercover work, when White Day was just around the corner and she hadn't had a work-free weekend in months?

"_What?_"

"Okay," Mint said simply, and strolled past Ryou to the limo he'd brought—_not that __she__ cares if we work,_ Ichigo thought bitterly, _when all Café Mew Mew is to her is an extended tea-time!_

She whined, "Ry_-ou—_"

He nodded toward Zakuro and sighed in Pudding's direction, smiled at Lettuce, then put an arm around Mew Ichigo with a smirk. "Enough of that. Let's go, catgirl."

"_Nooooo!_"

* * *

"W-w-welcome to Café Mew Mew! How may I help you? Where w-would you like to sit?"

_At least Lettuce is helping me today,_ Ichigo thought resignedly, brushing some chocolate crumbs off her red skirt.

That was the only thing that was different. Mint still drank tea at her solitary table; Pudding's acrobatic skills still did more harm than good to their dishes; and Zakuro's cool waitress exterior still sent people scrambling Ichigo's way.

_So I'm stuck, once again, with all the work._

She moved from table to table, smiling, running back and forth with trays of sweets, nodding and shaking her head for two hours. The sun was starting to set when Ichigo finally saw a break in the number of customers coming in. With a small squeak of relief, she slipped into the kitchen and sank to the floor, panting.

"Ichigo-san?"

"Eep!" She jumped. She had forgotten that the kitchen was Keiichiro's domain. _The things he's made in here!_ But she had no time to swoon or sample, break or no.

"Ah… _gomen nasai_, Akasaka-san. I just… wanted a break."

Her 'cat' nose suddenly twitched. What was that _delicious_ smell?

Keiichiro smiled—beamed, really. "That's quite all right, Ichigo-san. You only startled me."

Ichigo couldn't hold back any longer—she wandered over to Keiichiro's side, her nose in overdrive. Apparently Keiichiro was stirring some wonderfully-smelling, creamy white liquid in a bowl.

"Akasaka-san… what's this? It smells great!"

"Shhhh…" He leaned in closer. "It's a cake—vanilla—for someone special we both know."

_Someone special!_ "It looks wonderful, and it's not even done yet…!"

"No, but it will be soon."

She didn't really want to go back out to the café, so she stayed and watched Keiichiro hum as he stirred and mixed. He looked so _content_, almost happy—baking was one of his favorite things, but even so Ichigo marveled at his continuous dedication to it. If he was not assisting with Mew Project things way over her head, he was making _some_ delectable thing.

His ponytail swayed from side to side, more chocolate than the sweet he now offered her. _He's always so sweet himself…_ She found herself wondering what it would be like if his _counterpart _was sweet once in a—

The door swung open.

"Keiichiro? It's about time for—oh."

_Speak of the devil and he appears…_ Ichigo sighed. Ryou was in the kitchen now, looking at Keiichiro almost desperately. His blond hair was matted to his forehead, indicating that he'd just showered—she blushed, remembering her encounter with him as he was shirtless not so very long ago. The long brown jacket he wore somehow brought out his blue eyes.

And at the moment, those blue eyes were narrowing.

Keiichiro nodded and tossed the high-schooler something from his pocket—to Ichigo it looked like a syringe. "I didn't forget. …Whenever you're ready."

Ryou was still staring at the two of them. He addressed his next question to Ichigo: "What, taking a break? Slackers aren't rewarded, _baka_."

Keiichiro sighed too. A suspicious glance along with a casually tossed-out insult was a declaration of war.

"_Shirogane!_ I am no _baka_! Why do you always insult _me_ when I'm the only one—"

"—Who does any work around here, yes, I know. I've heard you say it a hundred times." Ryou feigned a worn-out sigh.

"And you'll hear it a hundred _more_ as long as you don't appreciate the fact that I have a _life!_"

In the midst of her rant, Keiichiro murmured to Ryou: "You're not seeing what you think you're seeing."

The blond gazed at the fuming catgirl, then back at his longtime caretaker, and took a breath to settle his own discomfort. Then he sighed as well. "…I know." And changed the subject. "I'll do it later. I have to go."

"Where?"

"_Shirogane_, are you listening to me?"

Ryou blinked in her direction. Upon recovery, his grin was sly. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

"You—!"

She leapt for him, using her feline speed. With his more mature feline speed, he dodged her sudden lashing-out, laughing the whole time.

"Too slow, Ichigo," he teased. Then his nose twitched. "…What's that wonderful smell?"

Keiichiro blushed. "Ah! Er…making a cake. You know me."

"I do." Ryou was now holding Ichigo away from him with one long, pale arm. He tilted his head in a 'because I'm curious' manner. "Who's it for?"

"Someone…special." The blush deepened.

Now_ I remember,_ Ichigo thought, temporarily distracted from her fight with Ryou as she watched Keiichiro's face. _Akasaka-san always blushes like that when he's lying._

If the high-schooler noticed, he didn't show it. Instead he shrugged, and with an indifferent "Do whatever you want to", turned to leave.

As he approached the swinging doors, Ichigo stepped into his path and spread her hands out wide; however, before she could open her mouth, Ryou put his right index finger over her lips.

Ichigo's heart skipped into a faster gear—along with the sudden realization of just who the cake was meant for. But she didn't get much time to ponder that. Those blue eyes were infinite and vast, and something very _curious_ floated in them…

Ichigo wanted to know what she saw, even as she instinctively shied away from it.

They said curiosity killed cats.

_This is Shirogane… Shouldn't I be more careful?_ And yet how could she think of anything _careful_ and _safe_ when his finger was on her mouth and he was breathing so closely to her?

"Ichigo…" he whispered, so that only she could hear.

Her face flushed. What was he doing? To her dismay, her notorious black cat ears popped out—she felt her tail brushing against her ankles too. The way he was just _staring_ at her, as if nothing else existed but her…

"Ichigo…?" Ryou stretched one finger out and, tentatively, stroked one dark ear. She felt herself purr without really meaning to. It felt so _good_…

The air between them was charged with tension, on the brink of release or restraint—it was hotter than anything the redhead had ever experienced in her short life.

_Answer, answer, answer! Don't let him…let him fluster you! You have to answer!_

But Ichigo was finding that hard at the moment.

"Yes…?" It was all she could manage, and a squeak at best.

And then he grinned, and broke the moment by flicking her on the nose with one finger. "…Get back to work."

Keiichiro, who had been watching in the background with a hint of fascination and triumph, now huffed in irritation. _And there goes my quiet atmosphere_.

"Why—you—_you_—SHIROGANE, HOW DARE YOU?"

"Ichigo-san, please don't shout—I've got cakes in the oven."

"And customers in the café don't want to hear your shrieks," Ryou added, "they want to be served. See to it that you serve them. See you later."

His grin widened into a smirk, and he pushed Ichigo gently aside before exiting gracefully through the double doors, his brown coattails trailing behind him. Ichigo spewed and steamed, any good mood she previously had had scattered by blond hair, blue eyes and a haughty attitude.

And then she remembered the cakes, and flushed.

"Sorry, Akasaka-san," she called over her shoulder, bowing in apology as she ducked out of his domain. Pasting a smile on her face and pushing thoughts of jerks, being overworked and White Day aside, she dived back into the bustling café and its ever-demanding customers. But her right index finger kept unconsciously hovering near her lips, and Zakuro twice pulled her aside to inform her that her ears had materialized—a fact that only made Ichigo angrier.

_Oooh! I'll get Shirogane if it's the last thing I do!_

Meanwhile, now alone again in his domain, Keiichiro stirred the mysterious cake-to-be and marveled at the foolishness of hot-tempered catgirls and, worse, lonely boys who were in love.

* * *

Ta-_da_! Chapter One.

Call this the Fluffy Chapter, if you will. The reason this one got so much longer is because some of my darkness has influenced the plot - and, if I do say so myself, made it better.

HEY, GUYS! REVIEWS ARE CANDY! ...No, seriously. I mean, most of the fic's set in a _café_. Give me sweets, please!


	2. Missing You By the Moment

Color me enthusiastic and flattered - I don't think any of my other fics ever got such a warm and widespread reaction before! Thank you all. If I haven't responded to your review and you have an account here, please feel free to PM me and I will send you one that hopefully isn't crappy.

I'm counting everything as canon in the _Tokyo Mew Mew_ universe - so that includes Berry, even though I usually call _a la Mode_ discontinuity, and Ringo from the PS2 game that only lucky Japanese people have. (sulks) I will make a brief reference to my all-inclusive canon, since there was one in the first chapter too. First person to name both lines from both chapters in a review gets digital ice cream.

On with the show!

* * *

White Chocolate With Strawberries

* * *

_He almost kissed me_.

It was past closing time; Ichigo and Lettuce were the only Mew Mews still in the café. Mint and Zakuro had left together, talking of shopping; Pudding did one last acrobatic trick for the customers and bowed out - she had siblings to feed.

All the while, Ichigo's nerves were on edge. She kept imagining what had happened in the kitchen, which felt to her like a dream-like scene in a movie. Shirogane being so close to her... his finger stroking her ear, pressed over her lips, his nose touching hers... the idea make her think of Masaya and shudder.

"Ichigo-san? Are you all right?"

She flinched, then became aware again of her green-haired friend and nodded. "Oh... yes, Lettuce-san, I'm fine."

Lettuce hastened to catch a falling plate. "I know you don't want to work on White Day, since it looks like we will be... I know if I were you, I'd rather spend the day with Aoyama-kun... or someone else I loved."

"Huh?" Ichigo blanked automatically - a wave of sadness came over her as she caught her friend's words, and she nodded quickly. "...Yes, I would rather. But Shirogane insists on me working...as he _always_ does...so, I guess I'll go to see Aoyama-kun in the morning, before White Day really begins."

Lettuce smiled. "I really admire your determination, Ichigo-san. Coming back to fight more Kirema Animas after we thought we had them all... helping our new friends... most of all, sacrificing what little time you have with Aoyama-kun for the café and us."

Ichigo flinched at the reminder.

Unseeing, Lettuce went on, her blue eyes shining with admiration. "In fact... how long has it been since we heard from Aoyama-kun, or he was here and not in England? The last time he was in the café was..." She paused. Frowned.

Ichigo spoke softly. "Nearly a year ago. Last White Day."

"Oh... Yes. He's been abroad on and off for so long... you must be glad he's coming back in time for you to give him some of Akasaka-san's chocolates."

"Yeah. Glad."

They finished clearing up the café at last, stacking the chairs in high towers and pushing them over to the sides, and placing the dishes in the currently-empty kitchen. Ichigo's thoughts were so preoccupied that she didn't even stop to wonder where Keiichiro might have gone.

Lettuce seemed to finally notice her air of distraction, too - she smiled at Ichigo, bade her farewell at the gates, and headed home.

Now she was alone.

It was one of the few times she'd been alone in a whole year. Between the constant work at the café, her double role as Mew Mew and student, and the sudden overprotective spike in her parents' behavior, Ichigo had been consciously and unconsciously shielded from solitude wherever she went.

There was more than enough of it now.

Tears suddenly stung her eyes, startling her. _Who am I kidding?_ she thought, rubbing her face with one sleeve of her thin jacket. _I've been lonely for a year._

She started to walk aimlessly, letting her feet take her where they would. _It's time to go home,_ she thought, but her feet didn't comply; _Maybe I'll go by the school,_ she thought another time, but she didn't end up walking near there either. In the end, she looked up and found herself trudging through the park, heading for a dove-white bench in the center, next to the fountain.

_Aoyama-kun and I sat on this bench._

Ichigo smiled faintly. Then her eyes filled with tears again, and this time she did nothing to stop them. It was a strange midpoint - she rocked back and forth on the bench, laughing and crying alternatively.

There had been many, many memories shared with Masaya on this pure white bench, and by the fountain, and in the park itself. How vivid they were! Hiccoughing with laughter, she recalled a moment here after the awakening of Deep Blue, when her newly-revived Masaya had tried to feed the pigeons here. And how they had attacked him, pecked at him, pulled at him! It was as if they knew then of his alien origin, when they hadn't before.

More, more, more memories washed over her. Ichigo let them come, and wrapped her jacket around herself, keeping them close.

_I'll see Aoyama-kun tomorrow..._

The thought thrilled and saddened her.

_...first thing. As soon as I get some sleep_.

* * *

The first thing she was aware of was rushing water; the second, an annoyingly-familiar voice; the third, the smell of fish.

"_Baka_ strawberry. Just what are you doing out here?"

"Mmmm..." Ichigo stirred. She yawned, showing previously-absent fangs, and stretched out from hair to toes. Recognition finally dawned, and with a squeak she realized several new things in succession:

The first thing: the last thing she remembered was - was falling asleep horizontally on a _bench_. She was still on that bench - in _that_ park - now.

The second: It was no longer late afternoon, with the birds going off in trees to rest and the sky turning pale pink and orange. Now it was morning - parts of the sky were still inky blue, while the area of the sky where the sun was rising was a riveting red.

The third new thing? The one speaking to her with such obvious worry hidden in his voice was _Ryou_.

"_Nya?_ Shi - Shirogane!"

His blond hair and pale skin looked darker in the early morning, but those mischievous blue eyes were shining as deviously as ever.

"Tsk-tsk, Momomiya Ichigo," he scolded, and sounded at least partially serious. "Out all night! Your parents have been frantic. They've been searching for you, calling all of your friends, disturbing _my_ much-needed sleep... and here you are, taking a catnap in a closed park! Honestly, you little stray. I'll bet this isn't the first time you've run away from home." He wagged his finger her way.

"Y - Y - _Who_ are you calling a _stray_, Shirogane? What I'm doing in the park is none of _your_ business anyway!"

"It actually is - since I was kind enough to offer to find you. While it _is_ four hours of my life I'll never get back, I suppose finding you was worth it."

"You _suppose_? You _jerk!_"

Ryou sighed.

Ichigo got up hastily from the bench, brushing peeling white paint off herself. As she did, she frowned at the blond high-schooler - and was startled by just how _concerned_ he looked. He noticed her attentive gaze and looked away; she did not. Her brown eyes saw the sleepy lack of focus in his blue ones; the way he ran his hand through the blond hair she only now noticed was ruffled and untidy; and the fact that he wasn't standing up straight like always, but slouching.

And then Ichigo noticed a delicious smell.

Trying to surreptitiously sniff and speak, she addressed her boss in a quieter voice. "You've... been looking for me all night?"

Ryou shrugged. "More or less. I roamed the streets as Alto, then as myself when it got lighter... Tokyo's quite active at night. I'd forgotten."

Ichigo felt her face grow hot. It was bad enough that her parents had called her _boss_ (especially since she doubted that her father had been civil); Ryou had sacrificed his sleep to try and find her. She knew well that he hardly slept anyway. Cat ears materialized on her head, symbol of her shame.

The promise she had made to him swam back into her memory. _I will... do my best, Ryou._ But had she done her best yesterday? Half-heartedly working at the café, practically sleepwalking to the park and camping out in a thin jacked without telling anybody beforehand. Her blush deepened.

_I need to do better... like I promised him I would. But...promises are so easily broken._

Ichigo blinked rapidly, frantically. _No! No! No! Not here, in front of _him...

He saw her anyway, and tilted his head to one side. "...What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. _Gomen nasai_ - sorry." Ichigo blinked a little more until she felt safe in speaking again, and in looking into Ryou's blue eyes once more.

Yet as she did, she noticed something.

Her employer was wearing a jacked - actually a coat, the same long brown one he had been sporting yesterday afternoon. Something shiny and silver was sticking out of one of its pockets. And from that silver shiny thing came the delicious smell that held Ichigo's nose hostage.

_Fish_.

Her ears twitched; her cat's tail materialized as well, and then there was no turning back. Quick as a cat, she snatched the silver shiny out of Ryou's pocket and balanced it in her hands, tossed it back and forth.

"Hey! Give that back, Ichigo!"

"No way!" Ichigo danced out of Ryou's reach, dodging his every skilled lunge (she had forgotten about his more- refined Iriomote Wildcat genes). As she did she studied the label on what turned out to be a can. "Wait - this is _tuna!_ Shirogane, you've got _tuna_!"

"Well deduced," Ryou said dryly, lunging again. He gave a frustrated growl as he missed again.

"Oh, ha ha," she retorted, as always resenting his jabs at her intelligence. After all, not _everyone_ was a genius. "You wore that jacket yesterday, and I didn't smell _any_ tuna on you then."

"Naturally," Ryou said. "I found snoring here, about an hour ago. You were relatively safe, and I was hungry... so I got some tuna. Note that, _baka_ - _my_ tuna. Now hand it over."

All the sympathy and fellow feeling drained out of Ichigo like water from a bathtub. Here she was trying to understand him and get along with him and be grateful that he had come looking for her; and what should she learn but that Ryou had _put off a supposedly frantic search for her to get food_!

Her blood boiled. Her face flushed for an entirely different reason. Such hurt and anger flowed through her that she considered becoming Mew Ichigo just to smack the blond around with her Strawberry Bell.

"Why you - ! I...! _Ooooh!_" Ichigo threw back her hand and yowled. "You don't care about anyone but yourself, Shirogane!"

Ryou winced, but quickly shoved it off. "So I've been told."

His nonchalant attitude was the last straw. "Oh, _you!_ Just - just get out of my way, then! I'm leaving."

That got his attention - but, she realized as he suddenly took a tight grip on her arm, not in the way she had anticipated.

"Oh no you don't, catgirl. I've found you at last - now I'm taking you home. Didn't I say your parents have been out of their minds with worry? It's past time you were back where you belong."

Ichigo strained to get free, inwardly cursing his strength and equally-formidable reflexes; he shifted as she did, so that any attempt she made was a useless dance. He matched her steps, and smiled at his own genius.

"_Shirogane!_ I have somewhere to be, and it _isn't_ home! I have to go there!" Her voice trembled, and he noticed. "I _need_ to go there..."

Ryou's blue eyes seemed to soften. However, it lasted only a moment - then he was frowning. "I promised I would bring you home."

"I'll go home on my own!"

She felt something warm and heavy being draped around her, and temporarily did not feel a hand restraining her wrist. Ryou had put his coat around her shoulders.

She was stunned. "Shirogane-san..."

He did not look at her; he studied the pavement, the white bench, the fountain. "Your parents told me that you'd been different in the past year. Guarded. Quiet. Reserved. They're worried about this, on top of everything else, so... Please. Come with me."

His kindness moved her, as did his entreaty - it was not the first time Ryou had offered her his coat, or been so nice to her. Still, though, her eyes could not help but suddenly burn with tears. "Sh-Shirogane... I c-c-_can't_. Today's... it's White Day..."

She turned away. Tears fell into the fountain.

Ryou appeared confused at first. Then something occurred to him: his blue eyes widened, and he felt both his face and heart clench with empathetic pain. His breathing quickened. He wanted to touch her, to comfort her, but he dared not. It had clicked for him, though - the gears in his head were spinning now. He was started to solve the mystery.

"Ichigo."

The catgirl flinched before turning around. She was no longer crying, but her eyes were still rimmed with red.

Ryou stepped closer to her, into her personal space. He put one hand on her shoulder and started to lead her out of the park, toward the gate he had jumped over earlier to get in.

His words were less than comforting, though. "Come with me. Don't argue."

For once, Momomiya Ichigo did _not_ argue.

* * *

Ta-da! Chapter Two.

Thank you all again for all your wonderful encouragement! Another chapter down and at _least_ one more to go...


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